A government contractor from Minnesota has emerged as a potential buyer for the beleaguered BRIDG facility in Kissimmee.
Osceola County on Monday approved SkyWater Technology to negotiate with economic officials for ownership of the 109,000-square-foot facility off U.S. Highway 192.
The facility has been entangled in controversy since relations with University of Central Florida, a partner in the project, disintegrated over its profitability.
The county and school agreed to pursue other suitors.
As the U.S. and rest of the world see more satellites launched into space, they face obstacles other generations have not.
As more objects launch, more become space debris, floating around, taking up, well, space.
It’s a problem the U.S. Air Force wants to see more research on.
So it has tapped a Daytona Beach company located at UCF’s incubator at Research Park to pursue it.
Space Domain Awareness participated this week in the Air Force’s AFWERX Space Challenge as the only Florida company to take part.
CEO John Lee said the competition could represent a major accomplishment for his startup.
“It is truly the centerpiece of innovation for the space industry,” he said in a press release.
Space Domain Awareness part of UCF’s Innovation District program at the Research Park.
The innovation districts are incubators that help scalable companies in targeted industries. In particular, the organization has one program that highlights space firms.
EngageSpace
The Space Challenge is a part of EngageSpace, an Air Force and U.S. Space Force-sponsored program held this week online.
You can learn more about the program HERE. The event brings government together with industry.
Lee and cofounder Ethan Saxon started Space Domain Awareness last year when they both participated in an entrepreneurship program.
Their solution to the space debris problem includes tagging the objects that are floating in space in what they are calling “the world’s first orbital license plate.”
The company plans to have its first commercial test launch next year.
“The solutions submitted for these space challenges represent the bleeding edge of space innovation,” Brennan Townley, AFWERX Challenge Collaboration Lead, said in a release. “We’re excited to highlight these innovators and connect them with opportunities across the Space ecosystem.”
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Gordon Folkes’ Archer First Response Systems uses drones for medical supply delivery.
Gordon Folkes started his Orlando company Archer First Response Systems to use drones in new ways.
Thanks to a partnership with Tampa General Hospital, he has started to execute that plan.
Archer could soon be delivering medical supplies to those experiencing cardiac arrest.
“In the back of my mind, I knew the system should be a part of the 9-1-1 process,” he said. “But it felt like such a mountain to climb.”
Last week, Manatee County Public Safety Director Jacob Saur took a step to help Folkes climb that mountain.
Manatee County support
He backed a plan in front of commissioners to allow Tampa General Hospital to deploy Archer’s technology in the county.
The county commission approved the effort by a 6-to-1 vote.
Each Archer First Response System uses Internet-connected high-speed drones with onboard computers, GPS, and other technologies to deliver Lifesaving medical equipment.
The on-board packages include an AED, Narcan Nasal Spray and a tourniquet.
The systems cover an area of 35 square miles in under 5 minutes and are based out of fire stations.
Success at FSU
Folkes, 26, said he started flying drones as a hobby.
But that turned into a business venture as a sophomore at Florida State University.
That’s when he won The Jim Moran College of Entrepreneurship’s “Innolevation Challenge” with Archer.
At the time, he had targeted master-planned communities and golf courses.
That effort failed.
“I figured with HOA agreements, I could put one into a contract so there were no involuntary participants, which is what the FAA is concerned about,” Folkes said. “99.9% said, ‘No.’”
But Folkes saw a pivot after a successful meeting with a fire chief.
He says the first fire department official who heard his plan bought in immediately.
“It’s validating to have someone say, ‘You’re right, this is a solution,’” he said. “You have to find people who get it.”
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Manatee County board
In Manatee County, Saur presented Archer to county commissioners earlier this month.
He backed the plan in front of commissioners, telling them they should strongly consider the chance to be recognized as an innovative community.
He cemented that support for what would be a one-year pilot program with a follow-up post on LinkedIn.
“A lot of stars need to align for this type of pilot program to really get it into operation,” he told commissioners, noting that the initial cost for the county program would be $12, with Tampa General fronting most of the cost.
“This could set the technology for the future,” he continued.
There were some concerns about liability and insurance coverage for the new technology.
But the commissioners moved forward with the item, setting it up to return to the board if Archer gets approval from the FAA.
“I commend the staff for allowing Manatee County to be on the cutting edge of something new with technology,” commissioner Reggie Bellamy said during the meeting.
“Knowing we have a viable answer to a problem that kills 326,000 people a year kept me going,” Folkes said.
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One thing I am certain of is that success rarely happens in …
That’s especially true early on.
In the last eight months, opportunities to do that have been rare.
But the entrepreneurs, for their part, executed as if they had been pitching in a random downtown parking lot, alongside a blow-up movie screen with a train roaring by occasionally for years.
One last thing: I have to give major props to Devan Deratany of BlueWave Resource Partners, the night’s emcee.
She kept light and kept the program moving.
I cannot overstate the importance of that when trying something new.
Any slowdown could turn off those who attend.
I imagine she has a background in public speaking, as she fluidly worked through the previously mentioned hiccups.
So, cheers to Devan.
Cheers to the organizers.
Cheers to Drive-in Pitch Night, which I hope becomes a standard in our ecosystem’s “normal” schedule.
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EDITORS NOTE: THE NEWSLETTER OF AUG. 19, 2022, INADVERTENTLY SENT THOSE CLICKING ON A LINK ABOUT MADDEN RATINGS HERE. THE ACTUAL LINK YOU NEED IS HERE.
Orlando tech company Talon Simulations has been working in VR for several years.
But CEO Brandon Naids says being on that cutting edge can present a challenge when trying to raise money.
They need funding to build but investors often won’t invest in a product until they see something built. A new grant from the company behind the popular Fortnite video game could help.
The grant will help the trio work on a full-motion, virtual reality trainer for military and commercial aviation.
“There is only so much we can do to advance our technology without customers and it’s hard to get customers without the technology being advanced,” said Talon CEO Brandon Naids, who would not disclose the amount of the grant. “They are helping us cross that gap by putting these dollars and support behind the industry.”
Epic Games’ $100 million grant program will support projects that use its Unreal Engine with grants that range from $5,000 to $500,000.
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Talon, BeBop, Cyber Dream project
The Talon project will develop a virtual reality trainer that will also incorporate haptic feedback gloves to increase realism.
BeBop Sensors last year introduced haptics in virtual reality at the Consumer Electronics Show. The company’s gloves use no tethers, which allow users to move around freely.
“It’s a great investment on their part to build the sense of touch and interactivity to the Unreal Engine ecosystem.”
Bebop sensors
The company has also been working to fine-tune the gloves.
For instance, right now the gloves react differently if you’re clicking a switch than if you’re turning a dial.
“It’s very cool and strategic on [Epic Games’] part to get developers, innovators and creators using Unreal Engine to develop content, training and AI that drives the industry forward,” said Kevin Mikalsen, BeBop’s senior business development manager.
“It’s a great investment on their part to build the sense of touch and interactivity to the Unreal Engine ecosystem.”
The company has its own Central Florida ties, with one founder based here and the company in April joining Orlando-based National Center for Simulation.
Epic Games grants in Orlando
As of December, Epic Games had doled out $13 million in grants to projects across the country.
In May, University of Central Florida announced that a professor had landed a grant.
Simulation builder SimBlocks of Orlando also recently announced that it had received one.
The Talon project will integrate virtual reality headsets with motion simulators and haptic feedback gloves.
“This is completing the package for us, as far as making it feel like you’re in a fully virtual environment,” Naids said. “This is a young industry still figuring out where it fits.”
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Lana Udalov received a, well, different response to her business pitch Friday night.
As she finished her presentation on her hotel management startup HKeeper, a chorus of cars in a downtown Orlando parking lot honked their horns in approval.
Udalov said the reaction took her by surprise, calling it a “very unusual experience.”
“I felt like a hero and that I did something heroic,” she said following her Drive-in Pitch Night pitch.
The startups at the event kind of did.
They demonstrated that in-person events, thought to be a thing of the past, could return with some precautions.
HKeeper was one of seven businesses to pitch at Drive-in Pitch Night, an event organized by Orlando Economic Partnership, Starter Studio and Project Orlando.
Home Lending Pal took home the title of best pitch of the night.
Organizers said they expect to repeat the event, the first of its kind in Orlando.
“It was a very unusual experience. I felt like a hero and that I did something heroic.”
Lana udalov, HKeeper
For the entrepreneurs, it was a rare chance to get in front of an audience during the coronavirus pandemic.
“I like the way everything was organized, especially when you have a chance to pitch on the screen,” Udalov said.
Logistics of a drive-in pitch night
The parking lot of the live-music venue The Vanguard on Concord hosted the event.
That was where organizers set up a makeshift stage alongside a large movie theater-like screen in the parking lot.
The companies presented three-minute video pitches then either took the stage or were on the phone to answer questions.
About 40 cars packed the lot.
The presentations included a prerecorded introduction from Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who touted the city’s young businesses.
He called startups and entrepreneurship one of the city’s major focuses.
Distric 5 City Commissioner Regina Hill also prerecorded a message.
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Starter Studio director Lilian Myers said she and co-organizer Charlie Lewis of Project Orlando plan to repeat the event.
The Drive-in Pitch Night became a unique experience, Myers said.
The logistics of the event included securing an FM frequency, figuring out a method for parking and dismissing cars and renting portable restrooms.
“These just aren’t things that one normally encounters (during regular events),” she said. “We were so proud of the startups and the work they put into their pitches and their willingness to experiment with us in this unique way. I don’t think they knew what to expect.”
The next step?
Myers says organizers received a good amount of feedback from both the entrepreneurs and attendees.
They plan to take the feedback into consideration as they plan a follow-up event.
That will help them improve the next version, she said.
“Everyone was desperate for something that felt like being somewhere and sharing with others in support of our tech community,” said Myers, who added there was “little doubt” the event would return. “We knew we had a winner and an unexpected buzz started … around it.”
An Orlando Tech Grant from the Orlando Economic Partnership helped pay for the event.
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The haptic component will heighten the sense of realism.
“Static flight simulators are fatiguing for students over time as they become disconnected from what their eyes are seeing in VR but not feeling in their inner ear,” Talon CEO Brandon Naids said in a release.
Working with haptics to enhance motion cues will mean those who are training can immerse themselves longer in the simulation, Naids said.
The grant will allow the companies to co-develop editors for the Unreal Engine. The goal is to make it easier for developers to incorporate haptic gloves and motion.
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Epic Games committed $100 million to its grant fund. Because of that, more companies will be able to create in the space.
The program encourages advances in creative and noteworthy projects that use the Unreal Engine.
The grants range from $5,000 to $500,000.
Haptics technology stimulates touch, which reproduces real-world sensations in virtual settings.
A second Orlando company, Cyber Dream, will develop the content.
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A small semblance of normality – albeit in an altered state – returns Friday when seven local startups participate in Drive-in Pitch Night.
The event will give young companies a chance to share what they are working on and receive feedback from the community.
The organization of Drive-in Pitch Night has been a collaboration of Starter Studio, Project Orlando and the Orlando Economic Partnership.
The companies expecting to pitch include a space-related investment group, a hotel staff management platform firm led by an industry veteran and a simulation and visualization company.
The pitch night will be hosted at The Vanguard in downtown Orlando at 7:30 p.m. Friday, 578 N. Orange Ave. You can REGISTER HERE.
The event will feature prerecorded pitches on a movie screen in the parking lot. A dedicated FM band will broadcast the pitches so those who attend can listen on their car radios.
Drive-in Pitch Night will represent the first startup-related pitch event since the coronavirus pandemic essentially shut down business.
Here is a very brief look at each of the companies.
HKeeper: Hotel industry veteran Alexander Udalov’s platform gives hotel operators a way to manage staff in real time.
Home Lending Pal: A borrower-centric mortgage marketplace that is powered by AI.
Spaced Ventures: A seed funding company from Cape Canaveral that targets space-industry startups for open-to-the-public investments.
GoGoPowerJuice: A tech firm that has targeted partnerships with hotels, gyms and other businesses to offer customers portable charging dock.
SimBlocks.io: Leverages game-engine technology to build virtual worlds for simulations.
She Plays: A fan engagement platform for women’s professional sports in the United States.
Pink Lotus Technologies: Wearable tech company that keeps parents informed about children’s well being when apart.
